New Mexico governor in Brazil to take part in U.N. climate change conference

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is headed south for the winter — at least for a few days.

The governor left New Mexico on Saturday to take part in a two-week United Nations climate change conference that begins Thursday in the Brazilian city of Belém.

Lujan Grisham, who is the former co-chair of the U.S. Climate Alliance, will join several other governors attending the event, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The entire United States delegation features about 100 individuals, but no high-level members of President Donald Trump’s administration.

In Brazil, Lujan Grisham is also scheduled to speak at several climate-related panel discussions in Rio de Janeiro before the conference officially begins, according to the Governor’s Office.

No state Cabinet officials are joining the governor for this year’s conference, though the governor’s deputy chief of operations, Caroline Buerkle, will be traveling with her, a spokesman said.

Lujan Grisham has also traveled to the annual U.N. climate change conference in past years, leading a local delegation to Scotland in 2021, Egypt in 2022 and Dubai in 2023. She did not attend last year’s conference in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the Brazil trip marks the latest overseas travel for Lujan Grisham, who has also made voyages this year to Japan and Singapore. The governor has also made stops in several other states.

Lujan Grisham, who will embark on her final year as New Mexico’s governor in January, has touted her administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enacting new methane and clean fuel rules, among other steps.

But the governor has still faced criticism — and lawsuits — from some environmental groups and advocates who have argued she has not done enough to protect state residents from pollution related to the oil and natural gas industries.

During a recent news conference, Lujan Grisham described her approach to energy issues as “pragmatic” in the nation’s second-highest oil-producing state, adding that litigation is difficult to avoid on such issues.

“Someone is going to sue us on either side of this equation,” the governor said during the September news conference.

The governor is scheduled to take part in meetings related to the U.N. climate change conference through Nov. 11, a spokesman said Monday. She then plans to take a week of personal time off before returning to New Mexico on Nov. 18.

The governor’s travel costs are being paid by Bloomberg Philanthropies, a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Per the state Constitution, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales will serve as acting governor while Lujan Grisham is traveling outside the state.